Written Answers Thursday 20 September 2007

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to concerns of new entrants to the farming and crofting sectors who cannot access Single Farm Payment support because they have no historical entitlement to such support.

Richard Lochhead: At present, new entrants to farming and crofting who wish to access Single Farm Payment support may only do so, in accordance with EC Regulation 1782/2003, by purchasing entitlements on the open market or through inheritance of entitlements. Recognising the difficulties faced by new entrants, we have included in the proposed Scotland Rural Development Programme (SRDP) a measure that will make an additional £10 million available to them, and I have also asked the Tenant Farming Forum to consider other ways in which we can help new entrants.

  The SRDP also includes a range of business development measures to support modernisation, diversification, restructuring and skills development, under which young farmers will generally be eligible for a higher rate of grant.

Apprenticeships

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the number of modern apprenticeships.

Maureen Watt: Our Skills Strategy sets out that we will invest in demand led training informed by the needs of individuals and employers and in the best interests of Scotland’s economy.

Armed Forces

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what specialised support is available for former armed forces personnel suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Shona Robison: We continue our discussions with the Ministry of Defence and NHS boards on improving structured care and support for former service personnel whose mental health is assessed to have suffered as a result of their operational deployment.

  Inpatient care is provided and fully funded by NHS boards through normal referral processes, subject to terms on the priority to be attached for treatment for those veterans in receipt of a service related pension.

  Hollybush House, the short stay residential treatment centre run by Combat Stress, also provides assessment treatment and support for former service personnel with mental health problems (including post traumatic stress disorder) related to operational deployment. Care at this centre is centrally funded by the Scottish Government

Armed Forces

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance and support it has provided to the veterans organisation, Combat Stress.

Shona Robison: Funding for Hollybush House (Combat Stress’ Scottish treatment centre) services is provided by NHS Scotland through an arrangement with NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

  Recent costs have been:

  

2003-04
£777,000


2004-05
£818,000


2005-06
£830,000



  In addition (between 2005-07) the then Scottish Executive provided a total capital grant of £100,000 toward the refurbishment of Hollybush House. The grant was provided on the understanding that Combat Stress would work toward service redesign following the recommendation of the Health and Social Care Advisory Service (HASCAS) report into their services.

  Total revenue grant funding of £54,000 over 2004-07 was also provided to help support the Combat Stress welfare team in its community outreach work.

Armed Forces

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to provide further financial support and assistance to the veterans organisation, Combat Stress.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government is currently discussing the future funding arrangements for Combat Stress with the UK Government.

  We are committed to ensuring the standards of services provided to veterans are of a high quality that meet the specific individual needs. We continue to work with colleagues in the Ministry of Defence and other Whitehall Departments to that end.

  Any changes to the current arrangements in respect of veterans in Scotland will be announced in due course.

Blood Transfusion Service

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the acquisition of Alba Biosciences by Quotient BioResearch.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it supports the part privatisation of blood testing products for the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service through the sale of Alba Biosciences.

Nicola Sturgeon: The majority of Alba Biosciences business and income, over a number of years, has been derived from overseas markets outside the NHS. It was not, therefore appropriate to retain Alba Bioscience as part of NHS Scotland, with responsibility for investment and associated risks involved.

  The sale will have no impact on the provision of medical products used in the treatment of patients. There are a number of alternative suppliers of the products that NHS Scotland requires, which will continue to be procured under existing arrangements in the same way that most modern pharmaceutical products are bought by the NHS.

  The sale has provided stability for the vast majority of staff, who have transferred to Quotient BioResearch. This will retain the skills of the workforce and will provide opportunities for the further growth and development of a Scottish-based business.

Class Sizes

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether additional composite classes in primary 1 to primary 3 will result from its decision to reduce class sizes to 18.

Maureen Watt: We will be discussing the implementation of class size reduction with COSLA, in the context of the Spending Review and the annual round of Teacher Workforce Planning. The creation of composite classes in schools is a matter for local authorities to consider in the light of circumstances such as the nature and size of schools, the resources allocated by each local authority, teacher availability etc.

Class Sizes

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any profiling work has been carried out on the impact of reducing class sizes to 18 in primary 1 to primary 3.

Maureen Watt: As is usual, work is being undertaken to aid the teacher workforce planning process which takes place each autumn, which projects the future requirement for newly qualified teachers.

Class Sizes

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional composite classes in primary 1 to primary 3 will be created as a result of its decision to reduce class sizes to 18.

Maureen Watt: The creation of composite classes in schools is a matter for local authorities to consider in the light of circumstances such as the nature and size of schools, the resources allocated by each local authority, teacher availability etc.

Class Sizes

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether class sizes of 18 in primary 1 to primary 3 will be achieved by May 2011, as pledged by the First Minister on 5 September 2007 ( Official Report c. 1378).

Maureen Watt: We are fully committed to driving down class sizes in P1 to P3 to a maximum of 18.

  The pace and scale of delivery are dependent on discussions with local authorities and with the Universities, who will be delivering the additional teachers needed. However, we are committed to driving down class sizes in a managed and staged way, which maintains teacher quality, recognises classroom pressures and continuity of class configurations, and which will deliver practical progress to classes of 18 in P1 to P3.

Class Sizes

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the capital implications are of reducing class sizes to 18 in primary 1 to primary 3.

Maureen Watt: We recognise that there will be implications for the physical accommodation requirements in some schools, particularly those operating at high occupancy levels. The general level of surplus school places and the continuing decline in school rolls in many areas should though help to limit accommodation pressures overall.

Class Sizes

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much additional capital will be provided in each year from 2007-08 to 2011-12 to support the reduction in class sizes to 18 in primary 1 to primary 3.

Maureen Watt: In July 2007 the Scottish Government allocated an additional £40 million of Schools Fund grant linked specifically to the capital implications of reducing class sizes in P1 to P3. The question of future funding is a matter for consideration in the context of the current spending review.

Class Sizes

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools will require temporary accommodation to meet its commitment to reduce class sizes to 18 in primary 1 to primary 3.

Maureen Watt: The detail of accommodation requirements will be for authorities to consider, in the light of local circumstances and roll projections.

Class Sizes

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the capital school estate is sufficient to meet its commitment to reduce class sizes to 18 in primary 1 to primary 3.

Maureen Watt: The Scottish Government recognises that there will be implications for the physical accommodation requirements in some schools.

Class Sizes

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional teachers will be required to meet its commitment to reduce class sizes to 18 in primary 1 to primary 3.

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional teacher training places will be created in each year to 2011 to meet its commitment to reduce class sizes to 18 in primary 1 to primary 3.

Maureen Watt: Issues regarding the resources to meet the commitment to reduce class sizes to 18 in primary 1 to primary 3 are matters for consideration in the context of the current Spending Review.

  We will be holding discussions with both local authorities and the universities about the pace and scale of the delivery, so that class sizes can be driven down in a managed and staged way, demonstrating year on year improvements.

Class Sizes

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funding will be provided to local authorities in each year from 2007-08 to 2011-12 to meet its commitment to reduce class sizes to 18 in primary 1 to primary 3.

Maureen Watt: In the academic year 2007-08 an additional £9 million has been allocated for local authorities to employ 300 extra teachers and £40 million for the financial year 2007-08 to help them with the infrastructure changes needed.

  With regards to future years I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-4099 on 20 September 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Concessionary Travel

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what payments were made to each of the top five bus operators in respect of the concessionary travel scheme for each of the past three years.

Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland can report that the following payments were made to the respective bus operators during 2006-07 as follows

  

First Group
£52,805,978.15


Stagecoach
£38,469,287.35


Lothian Buses
£18,961,643.15


Arriva
£5,242,062.37


Travel Dundee
£4,533,985.07


Total
£120,012,956.09



  Transport Scotland has no information relating to previous years.

Concessionary Travel

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many journeys were claimed for by each of the top five bus operators under the concessionary travel scheme in each of the last three years.

Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland can report that payments were made in respect of the following journeys made, to the respective bus operators during 2006-07 as follows:

  

First Group
56,165,239


Stagecoach
31,224,402


Lothian Buses
24,798,717


Arriva
5,599,652


Travel Dundee
5,586,214


Total
123,374,224



  Transport Scotland has no information relating to previous years.

Council Tax

Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is willing to legislate to oblige councils to freeze council tax.

John Swinney: The government’s intention is that a council tax freeze at 2007-08 levels can best be achieved through constructive discussion and agreement with local government. This is the course of action I am pursuing.

Council Tax

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its intended council tax freeze in 2008-09 will also apply to water and sewerage charges.

Stewart Stevenson: Water charge levels are set by an independent process of economic regulation led by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland. The commission sets limits on the charges that Scottish Water will apply during any given period at lowest reasonable overall cost. These must be sufficient to deliver ministers’ strategic objectives for the water industry in Scotland. A benefit of this regulatory framework is that water charge levels are set to rise by less by than inflation until 2010.

Crofting

Alasdair Allan (Western Isles) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action ministers intend to take to ensure that the aims of land reform legislation are not superseded by the use of interposed leases in the case of Pairc on Lewis.

Michael Russell: Section 31(2) of the Crofting Reform etc Act 2007 amended part 3 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 to allow crofting community bodies the right to acquire any interest in the land, thus preventing the use of interposed leases as a means of circumventing the Crofting Community Right to Buy. That section came into force on 25 June 2007 and no further action is therefore required.

  The Pairc Trust may now amend their application to buy crofting land on the Pairc Estate to include acquisition of the interposed lease over the estate, should they wish to do so.

Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Act 2007

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-1050 by Kenny MacAskill on 14 June 2007, when it will seek the Parliament’s views on the most effective way to implement the Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Act 2007.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Government is considering how best to deliver the custodial sentences elements of the 2007 act within our overall objective of a coherent penal policy.

  I announced at the debate on Penal Policy on Thursday 20 September that I am setting up an independent Prisons Commission to look at the use of prison. This, together with the work being done in tandem on revitalising community penalties, will assist in informing the approach we take. Once we have this advice, we will seek the Parliament’s views.

Dentistry

Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to improve access to NHS dentists in East Lothian.

Shona Robison: The responsibility for the provision of NHS dental services rests with the NHS board. We are supporting boards with a revised Scottish Dental Access Initiative that provides capital grants for new or expanded NHS dental practices.

Dentistry

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how access to NHS dental services will be improved, given recent research from the University of Dundee that concluded that 3% of dental graduates are committed to work wholly in the NHS.

Shona Robison: Most high street dentists undertake a mix of NHS and private treatment.

  The number of dentists providing general dental services has increased from 2,301 in March 2006 to 2,474 in March 2007.

  In Scotland we have introduced a bursary scheme which allows students studying from year 2 at the two Scottish Dental Schools to apply for a dental undergraduate bursary. Students receiving this bursary require to commit that their NHS earnings will represent not less than 80% of their total earnings for up to five years following graduation. In 2006-07 approximately 440 dental students were in receipt of a bursary. One hundred and twelve of these were final year students representing 90% of that year’s graduate cohort.

  A number of other financial recruitment and retention measures are in place to attract dentists to work in the NHS and remain in Scotland.

Drug Misuse

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many illegal drug-related deaths there have been in (a) West Dunbartonshire and (b) East Dunbartonshire in each year since 1996.

Fergus Ewing: The following figures were compiled by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS).

  Drug-Related Deaths, by Local Authority Area, 1996-2006

  

Local Authority Area
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006


Scotland
244
224
249
291
292
332
382
317
356
336
421


East Dunbartonshire
2
3
5
2
4
3
1
6
5
1
2


West Dunbartonshire
5
8
3
5
5
6
13
6
8
15
12



  Source: General Register for Scotland Drug Related Deaths, 2006 (table 2a): http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/drug-related-deaths/drug-related-deaths-in-scotland-2006/drug-related-deaths-in-scotland-2006-tables.html.

Drug Misuse

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug deaths there have been since 1997 and, of these, what proportion led to a custodial sentence (a) nationally and (b) broken down by local authority area.

Fergus Ewing: The figures in the following table on the numbers of drug-related deaths in Scotland since 1997 were compiled by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS).

  Information on the proportion that led to a custodial sentence is not available as court proceedings statistics held centrally do not uniformly contain detailed information on circumstances of the original offence.

  Drug-Related Deaths1 in Scotland, Numbers, Local Authority Area, 1997-2006

  

Council Area
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006


Scotland 
224
249
291
292
332
382
317
356
336
421


Aberdeen City 
13
20
22
22
32
34
21
27
11
26


Aberdeenshire
7
6
11
6
14
9
13
8
10
16


Angus
2
4
2
3
1
4
5
8
8
11


Argyll and Bute
-
1
1
3
1
5
3
4
3
1


Clackmannanshire
1
2
-
-
-
7
2
5
3
7


Dumfries and Galloway
7
4
7
7
8
9
9
7
7
5


Dundee City 
22
12
12
7
13
6
9
11
11
16


East Ayrshire
1
2
6
3
10
12
3
4
4
9


East Dunbartonshire 
3
5
2
4
3
1
6
5
1
2


East Lothian 
4
1
2
1
2
6
4
2
5
3


East Renfrewshire 
-
3
3
4
3
5
3
5
1
3


Edinburgh, City of
33
29
25
28
39
27
26
17
41
30


Eilean Siar
-
-
1
-
1
1
1
-
1
1


Falkirk 
2
-
5
1
7
8
6
7
8
10


Fife 
8
13
9
12
11
12
12
17
21
19


Glasgow City 
59
83
91
96
84
111
93
106
75
113


Highland 
3
1
7
1
5
8
7
8
10
11


Inverclyde
5
9
12
11
12
8
7
9
7
9


Midlothian 
4
4
4
3
5
2
3
5
5
6


Moray
2
-
5
3
-
4
3
4
2
5


North Ayrshire
2
2
5
11
15
14
9
13
6
11


North Lanarkshire 
7
12
11
18
12
28
22
20
25
24


Orkney Islands 
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
1


Perth and Kinross
6
7
-
4
5
4
5
4
7
8


Renfrewshire
6
10
11
11
5
9
11
14
10
17


Scottish Borders
1
1
-
1
1
-
2
2
7
2


Shetland Islands 
-
1
-
1
1
1
-
-
1
2


South Ayrshire
3
-
4
6
10
7
7
3
5
5


South Lanarkshire 
7
11
17
12
16
14
8
17
16
22


Stirling 
1
-
3
3
2
9
4
4
3
7


West Dunbartonshire 
8
3
5
5
6
13
6
8
15
12


West Lothian 
7
3
8
5
8
4
7
12
7
7



  Source: http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/drug-related-deaths/drug-related-deaths-in-scotland-2006/drug-related-deaths-in-scotland-2006-tables.html (Table 2a).

  Note: 1 Further information on the definitions of drug related deaths can be found at Annex A of the GROS publication Drug Related Deaths in Scotland 2006: http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/files1/stats/drug-related-deaths-2006/drug-related-deaths-2006.pdf.

Education

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what organisations the Minister for Schools and Skills has met since taking office.

Maureen Watt: I have met with the following organisations;

  Scottish Borders Council

  Fife Council

  Scottish Council for Development and Industry

  Moray Council

  Aberdeen City Council

  Aberdeenshire Council

  Children in Scotland

  Argyll and Bute Council

  Fife and Tayside Wider Access Forum

  East Ayrshire Council

  Scottish Secondary Teachers Association

  Orkney Islands Council

  Shetlands Islands Council

  Scottish Engineering

  Learndirect Scotland

  Scottish Parent Teacher Council

  Banff and Buchan College

  Reid Kerr College

  HM Inspectorate of Education.

Energy

John Lamont (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, based on current efficiency levels, how many more wind turbines will need to be built for Scotland to have greater energy capacity from wind than nuclear sources.

Mr Jim Mather: We have recently confirmed that installed renewables capacity in Scotland exceeds that of nuclear power. The Scottish Government is focussed on supporting rapid increases in this renewables capacity across a range of sources, including wave, tidal, biomass and hydro as well as wind. We also believe there is capacity for significant advances in other areas, such as cleaner coal and carbon sequestration.

Environment

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to continue the work previously undertaken by the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Sustainable Scotland.

Richard Lochhead: Following the election, we have a small streamlined Cabinet of six and this requires each Cabinet Secretary to take a shared responsibility in delivering all of the Government’s Strategic Objectives. This approach will ensure that sustainability issues are addressed at full Cabinet level, rather than such a fundamental issue being dealt with by a sub-committee. The Cabinet will engage fully with a broad range of interested parties to ensure that Government pursues an ambitious agenda on Greener Scotland including climate change issues.

Environment

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what chemicals are listed in the Possession of Pesticides (Scotland) Order 2005; when it intends to review this list, and what steps it is taking to identify other chemicals that might be considered in future.

Michael Russell: The chemicals listed on the Possession of Pesticides (Scotland) Order 2005 are Aldicarb, Alphachloralose, Aluminium phosphide, Bendiocard, Carbofuran, Mevinphos, Sodium cyanide and Strychnine. The list is due for review in 2008. The Campaign Against Illegal Poisoning in Scotland, chaired by a Scottish Government official, meets regularly and considers possible substances for inclusion in the Order.

Fisheries

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give an assurance that it recognises the vital role the fishing industry plays in Eyemouth and along the Berwickshire coastline and that this will be reflected in the EU Fisheries Fund programme for 2007 to 2013 when considering the areas for fisheries dependent area status.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government fully recognises the vital role that the fishing industry plays in the local economy of many communities in Scotland including Eyemouth and the Berwickshire coastline. Local economic importance is one of the possible criteria when considering the areas for fisheries dependent area status within the EU Fisheries Fund programme.

Fisheries

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to safeguard Scotland’s fishing industry.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is firmly committed to treating the Scottish fishing industry as a priority, not only safeguarding its future, but ensuring that it thrives. We are taking action on many fronts to ensure that our fisheries are both profitable and sustainable. Actions include:

  developing a greater role and influence for Scotland in European fisheries policies,

  leading the way in fisheries conservation measures, such as real time closures, to protect vulnerable cod stocks;

  developing Inshore Fisheries Groups to manage local fisheries, putting the interests of stakeholders at the heart of decision making;

  establishing a Scottish Fisheries Council which will provide a comprehensive consultative and advisory body, comprising fishermen and other marine stakeholders, and

  ensuring that for the first tome the interests of fishing communities are at the heart of our policies and actions.

  I believe that our long association with, and commitment to, fishing communities makes this Scottish Government uniquely placed to promote fisheries in Scotland, the UK and Europe.

Fisheries

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to safeguard the fishing industry in Eyemouth and eastern Berwickshire.

Richard Lochhead: I recognise the importance of the fishing industry in Eyemouth and Eastern Berwickshire. I will of course be making the strongest possible case at the forthcoming international fisheries negotiations to protect the vital catching opportunities for Scotland’s fishing fleet. Aid to the fisheries sector will also be available through the European Fisheries Fund programme. A draft operational programme will be published for public consultation in the near future and I encourage all in the Eyemouth and Berwickshire area with a fisheries interest to engage with the Scottish Government in delivering this important European funded assistance scheme. I shall also be placing fishing communities at the heart of our fisheries policies and practices and will be convening in early 2008 a convention on the how best to safeguard their future.

Flood Prevention

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when JBA Consulting was commissioned to undertake the web-based development of the Scottish Asset Database project; when it is due to be completed, and at what cost.

Michael Russell: JBA Consulting were commissioned to undertake the Scottish Flood Defence Asset Database project on 25 May 2004. It is now completed, and was launched on 6 September. The total cost of the project was £500,080.

Health

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made on the Delivering Care, Enabling Health strategy.

Nicola Sturgeon: Delivering Care, Enabling health is the key delivery and outcome evaluation mechanism for Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals in Scotland. The strategy document contained a 26 point action plan to be taken forward by NHS Scotland, higher education institutions, the Scottish Government and linked agencies.

  The action plan is still in the early stages of implementation. However, indications are that steady progress is being made. Already underway is a review of the role of the senior charge nurse in NHS Scotland; the development of clinical quality indicators which will ensure the delivery of safe and effective care; the first Early Clinical Careers Fellowship programme for nursing and midwifery is being piloted from October 2007, to provide funded access to clinically focussed Masters level education for newly qualified nursing and midwifery graduates. In addition, the first Nursing Officer for Vulnerable Adults, including older people, has been appointed to the Scottish Government’s Chief Nursing Officer Directorate.

Homelessness

Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many breaches by local authorities of the provisions of the Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Order 2004 were identified from implementation of the order to June 2007.

Stewart Maxwell: The Scottish Government collects snapshot data on the number of households with dependent children or pregnant women in temporary accommodation which breaches the Unsuitable Accommodation Order at the end of the quarter. Figures from 30 June 2005 to 31 December 2006 are available online in Table C8 of the statistical release Operation of the Homeless Persons Legislation in Scotland: quarters ending 30 June and 30 September 2006 (temporary accommodation to 31 December 2006) : http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/PubHomeless .

  Snapshot information for 31 March 2007 will be published as part of a routine statistical bulletin on 30 October 2007.

Homelessness

Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what safeguards are in place to prevent homeless families with children being placed in temporary accommodation of any type in which convicted sex offenders are also accommodated.

Stewart Maxwell: The National Accommodation Strategy for Sex Offenders (NASSO), which came into force on 2 April 2007, provides for the Responsible Authorities under the Management of Offenders etc. (Scotland) Act 2005 to risk manage meeting the accommodation needs of sex offenders. The NASSO specifies that some types of accommodation are unsuitable for sex offenders, including mainstream hostels or houses in multiple occupation, and bed and breakfasts, due to the risk to fellow users and particularly children. It notes that placing a sex offender in temporary accommodation where there are households with children could constitute a significant risk to those households, and it goes on to say that such placements might mean that the temporary accommodation did not meet the standards required for homeless households with children. These are set out in the Homeless Persons (Unsuitable Accommodation) (Scotland) Order 2004, which requires that temporary accommodation for households with children must be suitable for children.

Justice

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what knife crime figures have been in each year from 1995 to 2007, also showing the number of (a) street robberies involving blades, (b) people who died following blade attacks and (c) number of people admitted to hospitals with knife wounds, broken down by day of the week.

Kenny MacAskill: With the exception of homicide cases, statistics on knife crimes are not held centrally. The number of homicide cases in each year from 1995 to 2006, in which the method of killing was with a sharp instrument, are shown in the following table. Homicide figures for 2006-07 are due to be published on 18 December 2007.

  Number of Homicides Where the Method of Killing was with a Sharp Instrument1, 1995-96 to 2005-06

  

Year
Number of Homicides


1995-96
69


1996-97
49


1997-98
39


1998-99
39


1999-2000
67


2000-01
48


2001-02
56


2002-03
60


2003-04
55


2004-05
72


2005-06
34



  Note: 1. Includes knives and other sharp instruments.

Justice

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is committed to implementing the Custodial Sentences and Weapons (Scotland) Act 2007.

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish ministers have made the first Commencement Order under the 2007 act, bringing into force provisions relating to knife dealers’ licences, offensive weapons, swords and crossbows and establishing a new offence of having offensive weapons in prison. These measures will come into force on 1 October and 1 November 2007.

  The Scottish Government is also committed to ending the concept of automatic unconditional early release and to achieving that within our wider offender management strategy that delivers appropriate and proportionate punishment for all offenders.

Justice

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many crimes and offences have been committed in each year since 1992 and, of these, what proportion led to a custodial sentence (a) nationally and (b) broken down by local authority area.

Kenny MacAskill: The number of crimes and offences recorded by the police are shown in the following tables. The statistics dealing with recorded crime and court proceedings are not directly comparable as a person may be proceeded against for more than one crime involving more than one victim and there is the possibility that the crime recorded by the police may be altered in the course of judicial proceedings. Also a crime may be recorded by the police in one year and court proceedings concluded in a subsequent year. Thus the available statistics on court proceedings and recorded crime cannot be combined in any meaningful way, for instance to show what proportion of recorded crimes lead to a custodial sentence.

  Crimes and Offences Recorded by the Police by Local Authority, 1992 to 1994 and 1995-96 to 2006-07

  

 
19921
19931
19941
19951


All Scotland
998,786
958,959
964,027
927,566


Aberdeen City
45,969
42,628
47,380
47,441


Aberdeenshire
27,869
27,479
29,965
29,855


Angus
19,234
17,830
18,830
17,871


Argyll and Bute
12,684
12,068
11,387
12,066


Clackmannanshire
7,276
7,287
7,282
6,661


Dumfries and Galloway
27,643
25,061
26,018
24,697


Dundee City
37,292
36,999
36,485
33,818


East Ayrshire
24,334
21,918
20,537
20,425


East Dunbartonshire
13,289
12,559
12,279
11,483


East Lothian
10,700
10,142
11,086
11,671


East Renfrewshire
12,131
11,762
11,751
12,256


City of Edinburgh
96,892
94,344
91,036
87,925


Eilean Siar (W.Isles)
2,347
2,360
2,615
2,750


Falkirk
25,616
24,043
23,447
22,240


Fife
59,666
65,053
73,378
65,855


City of Glasgow
197,857
186,282
182,803
174,414


Highland
30,184
29,815
29,372
32,908


Inverclyde
17,602
16,310
16,649
14,797


Midlothian
13,158
12,592
11,386
11,693


Moray
13,111
13,720
15,098
14,378


North Ayrshire
25,488
24,080
21,711
20,840


North Lanarkshire
58,560
56,463
53,341
49,758


Orkney Islands
1,415
1,179
1,281
1,081


Perth and Kinross
23,915
22,090
22,684
22,340


Renfrewshire
37,393
33,700
32,077
30,658


Scottish Borders
15,094
14,413
16,821
14,800


Shetland Islands
1,617
1,902
1,899
1,863


South Ayrshire
19,972
19,934
19,612
20,518


South Lanarkshire
64,628
61,585
59,707
55,098


Stirling
13,550
13,315
14,257
13,656


West Dunbartonshire
18,697
17,619
17,266
17,006


West Lothian
23,603
22,427
24,587
24,744



  

 
1995-961
1996-97
1997-98
1998-99
1999-2000
2000-01


All Scotland
927,244
901,103
917,170
954,561
934,886
914,562


Aberdeen City
47,137
48,173
49,706
52,982
54,508
49,807


Aberdeenshire
30,214
32,844
31,015
35,089
32,123
27,898


Angus
17,518
13,742
15,748
16,332
19,985
13,713


Argyll and Bute
12,115
11,934
11,577
11,031
12,159
13,168


Clackmannanshire
6,826
5,926
6,117
6,319
6,164
6,675


Dumfries and Galloway
25,423
28,100
28,913
32,842
28,270
25,673


Dundee City
33,362
34,277
30,801
29,795
28,775
27,961


East Ayrshire
20,314
18,164
19,699
20,756
20,026
18,999


East Dunbartonshire
11,598
10,829
10,908
10,903
9,510
9,624


East Lothian
10,840
9,409
10,324
10,548
11,390
9,679


East Renfrewshire
12,134
10,449
8,613
9,413
9,789
7,827


City of Edinburgh
86,516
84,086
87,281
87,261
92,972
91,160


Eilean Siar (W.Isles)
2,721
3,040
2,303
1,995
1,946
1,667


Falkirk
22,754
22,266
20,994
21,273
23,874
21,063


Fife
65,143
64,158
63,754
70,932
59,713
65,750


City of Glasgow
175,590
169,043
179,675
183,635
191,702
193,718


Highland
33,614
33,072
29,494
30,927
31,885
32,609


Inverclyde
15,099
16,353
16,563
17,725
16,416
15,448


Midlothian
11,322
11,147
12,201
12,501
12,074
10,653


Moray
14,583
15,844
15,248
13,690
11,735
11,334


North Ayrshire
21,225
19,787
20,878
20,964
18,325
18,374


North Lanarkshire
49,799
51,158
54,056
54,870
50,400
52,195


Orkney Islands
1,117
1,167
1,263
1,569
1,337
1,215


Perth and Kinross
21,664
20,947
19,980
19,580
16,844
21,403


Renfrewshire
31,175
29,677
29,807
31,185
29,840
28,161


Scottish Borders
13,787
14,125
15,077
16,284
18,906
20,007


Shetland Islands
1,878
1,646
2,274
1,700
1,591
1,584


South Ayrshire
21,415
19,574
19,110
20,199
19,146
16,887


South Lanarkshire
54,046
46,482
50,945
49,151
46,281
45,594


Stirling
13,480
13,134
12,503
15,834
13,800
13,143


West Dunbartonshire
18,162
18,537
17,396
19,479
17,699
15,570


West Lothian
24,673
22,013
22,947
27,797
25,701
26,003



  

 
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-052
2005-06
2006-07


All Scotland
958,144
942,403
1,030,090
1,076,685
1,017,673
1,024,857


Aberdeen City
50,440
55,215
60,458
62,028
60,449
59,953


Aberdeenshire
27,280
24,876
24,468
26,861
25,027
28,821


Angus
18,418
18,032
19,614
18,694
20,350
19,379


Argyll and Bute
12,573
12,717
14,157
13,725
12,722
13,742


Clackmannanshire
7,292
8,184
8,238
7,976
8,649
9,957


Dumfries and Galloway
24,057
26,736
34,605
41,547
39,800
42,316


Dundee City
30,912
33,264
37,469
41,070
37,284
37,894


East Ayrshire
18,832
19,184
22,631
37,668
18,633
18,531


East Dunbartonshire
9,173
8,979
8,813
10,458
9,642
9,857


East Lothian
10,414
10,381
9,147
8,606
8,655
9,444


East Renfrewshire
8,277
7,769
8,246
8,476
9,270
8,535


City of Edinburgh
94,703
91,833
119,824
134,114
119,482
114,194


Eilean Siar (W.Isles)
2,086
1,995
2,201
2,671
2,862
2,828


Falkirk
24,728
25,332
26,433
25,157
26,739
33,289


Fife
65,309
67,874
67,854
72,773
68,006
67,629


City of Glasgow
200,769
178,265
182,564
172,950
170,990
164,882


Highland
35,524
36,136
34,611
36,226
38,981
40,964


Inverclyde
15,027
13,863
14,412
15,063
13,399
13,002


Midlothian
11,508
11,225
10,640
13,491
12,583
11,071


Moray
12,806
11,686
11,650
12,641
11,595
13,802


North Ayrshire
19,193
19,254
19,083
21,528
21,596
21,142


North Lanarkshire
56,448
69,108
84,909
75,960
66,834
66,321


Orkney Islands
1,116
1,364
1,497
1,382
1,470
1,537


Perth and Kinross
25,586
24,297
31,484
30,624
31,056
31,087


Renfrewshire
28,400
26,438
27,281
26,990
24,400
27,500


Scottish Borders
21,191
17,982
25,239
27,202
25,078
25,574


Shetland Islands
1,510
1,604
1,960
1,927
2,210
2,077


South Ayrshire
17,128
17,800
15,258
17,530
17,159
18,149


South Lanarkshire
47,598
42,671
45,817
48,899
50,813
46,185


Stirling
15,102
17,088
19,875
17,268
16,581
20,843


West Dunbartonshire
15,933
15,433
16,351
17,853
18,075
18,176


West Lothian
28,811
25,818
23,301
27,327
27,283
26,175



  Notes:

  1. The local authority breakdown of the recorded crime figures from 1992 to 1994 and 1995-96 are based on the data held at a district level. For those authorities which were formed from "parts" of districts, the figures were pro-rated using population figures.

  2. Data from 2004-05 onwards shows the impact of the implementation of the Scottish Crime Recording Standard (SCRS), which was expected to increase the numbers of minor crimes recorded by the police, such as minor crimes of vandalism and minor thefts.

Justice

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding support it provided for advocacy services in Shetland in 2006-07; which bodies received such funding, and how its use was monitored.

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding support it is providing for advocacy services in Shetland in 2007-08; which bodies are receiving such funding, and how its use is being monitored.

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding support it plans to provide for advocacy services in Shetland in 2008-09; which bodies will receive such funding, and how its use will be monitored.

Shona Robison: There is a duty on NHS boards and local authorities under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment)(Scotland) Act 2003 to secure the availability of independent advocacy services for people who have a mental health condition. These services may be secured by the NHS board or local authority through funding from their own allocations or by obtaining support from other sources.

  The Scottish Government actively monitors the provision of advocacy services. We also fund the Scottish Independent Advocacy Alliance, which promotes and supports advocacy services throughout Scotland.

Justice

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it is giving to its funding for advocacy services being paid directly to the bodies delivering such services.

Shona Robison: There are currently no plans to change funding arrangements for advocacy services.

  I also refer the member to the answer to question S3W-4272 on 20 September 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Land Reform

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is considering extending community right to buy to urban areas.

Michael Russell: There are no plans at present to do so.

Legal Aid

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost has been of civil legal aid and what amount has been recovered from defenders where legal aid has been granted to a successful pursuer in each of the last five years.

The Executive have supplied the following corrected answer:

Kenny MacAskill: The Scottish Legal Aid Board’s system which records receipt of property recovered or preserved, and expenses from opponents, does not record whether the opponent was the pursuer or defender in the case. SLAB summarises in its annual report, a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41341), information on the amount of expenses and awards recovered from opponents, whether pursuer or defender. These amounts for the last five years are shown in the following table.

  Gross Cost of Civil Legal Aid, Expenses and Awards Recovered from Opponents (£000), 2002-03 to 2006-07

  

 
Gross Cost
Expenses
Amounts Awardedto Assisted Persons
Total Recoveredfrom Opponents


2002-03
 


Family/matrimonial
16,062
1,798
1,007
2,805


Debt
512
121
15
136


Reparation
7,789
4,741
254
4,995


Judicial review
266
71
0
71


Appeals
461
74
0
74


Recovery of heritable property
120
0
0
0


Other
1,862
299
24
323


Total
27,071
7,104
1,300
8,404


2003-04
 


Family/matrimonial
16,562
742
880
1,622


Debt
536
152
35
187


Reparation
9,145
7,208
204
7,412


Judicial review
238
86
0
86


Appeals
675
207
14
221


Recovery of heritable property
171
0
0
0


Other
2,667
342
29
371


Total
29,994
8,737
1,162
9,899


2004-05
 


Family/matrimonial
16,035
529
754
1,283


Debt
524
70
34
104


Reparation
10,392
8,791
142
8,933


Judicial review
485
103
0
103


Appeals
517
113
4
117


Recovery of heritable property
174
41
1
42


Other
2,694
166
52
218


Total
30,821
9,813
987
10,800


2005-06
 


Family/matrimonial
16,016
365
712
1,077


Debt
553
88
14
101


Reparation
9,085
7,493
126
7,619


Judicial review
678
102
0
102


Appeals
918
440
0
440


Recovery of heritable property
155
31
4
35


Other
2,223
223
35
257


Total
29,627
8,740
891
9,631


2006-07
 


Family/matrimonial
16,340
437
1,198
1,635


Debt
756
346
61
406


Reparation
10,343
7,263
219
7,482


Judicial review
745
389
0
389


Appeals
648
172
1
172


Recovery of heritable property
268
21
11
33


Other
2,328
168
36
204


Total
31,428
8,795
1,526
10,320



  It will be noted from the table that in four of the last five years, over 70% of the sums recovered by the board from opponents relate to reparation cases. The vast majority of legally aided parties in such cases are pursuers, meaning that the vast majority of these sums will have been paid by defenders. In judicial review, all of the expenses will have been paid by defenders (or, more accurately, respondents). For other types of case, including family cases, legal aid may be granted to either the pursuer or defender and so it is not possible to say how much of the amounts recovered in these cases comes from defenders.

Local Government Expenditure

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much each local authority has spent on communications to residents in each year since 1999 in (a) cash and (b) real terms.

John Swinney: The information requested is not held centrally. Information on the expenditure of local authorities is collected annually via Local Financial Returns (LFRs). However, the LFR returns do not collect information at the level of detail requested.

NHS Hospitals

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers it appropriate for staff working in the NHS to pay car parking charges at their places of work.

Nicola Sturgeon: The introduction of car park charging for staff, patients, visitors and carers is a local matter for NHS boards.

  On Friday 14 September 2007, I announced that the Scottish Government would be reviewing hospital car parking charges. The review group will report back to me by the end of November 2007.

NHS Hospitals

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Monklands Hospital will be retained as a level three general hospital.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS Lanarkshire are currently looking at their original plans to produce revised proposals to enable accident and emergency services to continue at all three sites in Lanarkshire. I recently announced the full membership of the Independent Scrutiny Panel under the Chairmanship of Dr Andrew Walker and the panel has commenced work to scrutinise and evaluate the board’s proposals. I have agreed with the board that the revised proposals should be with me for a final decision by the turn of the year. Therefore, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time on what the board’s proposals might be.

New Futures Fund

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding was provided to agencies in Dumfries and Galloway from the New Futures Fund in 2006-07 and how much will be provided in 2007-08.

Fiona Hyslop: Dumfries and Galloway Community Planning Partnership has been given £210,000 New Futures Successor Funding in each year for 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Planning

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-32287 by Des McNulty on 20 March 2007, whether it has now given consideration to including NHS boards in any list of statutory consultees whom the planning authority must approach in preparing a development plan.

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-32287 by Des McNulty on 8 March 2007, whether it has taken a view on whether local NHS boards should be statutory consultees for planning applications concerning large housing developments to enable the impact of such developments on local housing services or facilities to be taken into account.

Stewart Stevenson: There are undoubtedly important linkages between the planning and health systems, including the implications of major proposed developments on the delivery of health services. The involvement of health boards in the development plan process is therefore desirable, and how this is best achieved is under on-going consideration as part of the process of implementing the Planning etc (Scotland) Act 2006.

  The 2006 act allows ministers to specify, through regulations, a number of "key agencies". The intention is that proposed key agencies will be set out within the draft development plan regulations which we hope to issue for consultation in October this year. It will be a duty of these agencies to co-operate with planning authorities at various stages in the preparation of the development plan, so it will be vital that the agencies have the resources to fully engage in the process.

  As well as referring to key agencies, the act requires the forthcoming regulations to secure, so far as practicable, that those who may be expected to want to make representations on the plan are made aware that they can do so. The guidance accompanying the regulations is likely to include a list of those bodies that planning authorities should consult in this context, allowing the bodies such as health boards to respond to plans which impact on their interests. We consider this to be an appropriate way to encourage more effective engagement with NHS boards.

Planning

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make it a requirement on planning authorities to notify and consult community health partnerships about any housing development of a size that might affect local community health services.

Stewart Stevenson: We are currently considering what, if any, changes should be made to the list of statutory consultees who are required to be consulted on certain types of planning application. We would be need to be reassured that any additional statutory consultee has the capacity and resources available to them to engage fully with the planning authority and developer on each application that required their input.

  However, the Scottish Government believes that a plan-led system is the key to a modern, efficient planning system. Early dialogue is crucial and it may be that the most appropriate time for Community Health Partnerships to become involved in the planning process is at the development planning level. It is at this stage where consideration should be given to the impact of large scale development proposals on the delivery of health care services in the plan area. These plans set the policy context within which individual planning applications are determined and decisions must be made in accordance with the development plan for the area unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

Planning

Hugh O'Donnell (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what use it makes of the information on housing land availability provided by local authorities in their annual housing land audits, as required by paragraph 67 of Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) 3 - Planning for Housing.

Stewart Stevenson: Annual housing land audits are a key tool for local authorities in monitoring their development plans and ensuring that an adequate supply of land for housing is maintained. As set out in SPP3, where such monitoring indicates that the availability of housing land, and/or completions, is not keeping pace with identified requirements, planning authorities may prepare an alteration or review of their plan as necessary.

  The Scottish Government has commissioned research into the effectiveness of housing land audits, the aim of which is to provide advice on the potential effectiveness of housing land audits as a tool in measuring and monitoring housing land supply across Scotland as a whole. The need for this research was driven by Scottish ministers’ concern to ensure a sufficient supply of land for housing. The results of the study will help to inform the current review of SPP3 and related guidance, and will also be relevant to the current planning reforms.

  Officials are currently in the process of establishing a system that will allow the information collected by local authorities in housing land audits to be used by the Scottish Government to monitor the amount of affordable housing that is being built, and are in the early stages of discussions with local authorities about the best way to take this forward.

Police

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional police officers it expects to be recruited in 2007-08.

Kenny MacAskill: Recruitment is a matter for individual Chief Constables. Currently, projections are for around 550 recruits to complete their induction training at the Scottish Police College during 2007-08.

Police

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional police officers it expects to be recruited in each year from 2007 to 2011.

Mr Kenny MacAskill: This information is not held centrally.

  We will continue to work with the Scottish Police College and Forces to ensure appropriate recruitment and retention levels.

Police

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost would be of increasing the number of police officers by (a) 500, (b) 1,000 and (c) 1,500 and what the increase in size of each force would be under an equitable distribution of such increases.

Kenny MacAskill: The average cost of employing police officers within Scottish police forces is:

  Around £20 million per year for 500 officers.

  Around £40 million per year for 1,000 officers.

  Around £60 million per year for 1,500 officers.

  The following table shows theses numbers pro-rated across forces in line with current distribution of officer numbers:

  Police Officer Numbers (Whole-Time Equivalent) At 30 June 2007

  

Police Force Area
Officer Numbers
Percentage of Total
500 Officers
1,000 Officers
1,500 Officers


Central
825
5.07%
25
51
76


Dumfries and Galloway
496
3.05%
15
30
45


Fife
1,057
6.50%
32
65
97


Grampian
1,410
8.67%
43
87
130


Lothian and Borders
2,799
17.21%
86
172
258


Northern
707
4.35%
21
43
64


Strathclyde
7,804
47.98%
240
480
720


Tayside
1,167
7.17%
36
72
108


Total
16,265
100%
498
1,000
1,498

Police

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many police officers are projected to leave active service from 2007 to 2011.

Kenny MacAskill: Approximately 2,250 police officers are eligible to retire with full pension rights between 2007 and 2011. However, some officers will chose to remain within the police service and others will leave the service before attaining 30 years service.

  We want to retain officers who still have much to offer the police service beyond their 30 years of service and will work with police forces and staff associations to enable this.

Police

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the first supplementary to question S3O-476 by Kenny MacAskill on 6 September 2007 ( Official Report c. 1151), how many of the 1,000 additional police officers promised in the SNP manifesto will be (a) new recruits or (b) as a result of retaining serving police officers.

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to the first supplementary to question S3O-476 by Kenny MacAskill on 6 September 2007 ( Official Report c. 1151), what target it has for the number of police officers it wishes to retain who were expected to leave active service from 2007 to 2011.

Kenny MacAskill: Delivering additional policing capacity will require a co-ordinated, carefully planned and innovative approach. We are developing our plans to deliver this commitment, and intend to publish them in due course.

Prison Service

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prison places have been available in each Scottish parliamentary region or equivalent in each year since 1979.

Kenny MacAskill: I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  A table showing the average annual prisoner population across all sites since 1979 has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 43685). The SPS does not hold historical information on prisoner places in the format requested.

Procurement

Alex Johnstone (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what further action it can take to encourage local food procurement by schools, hospitals and prisons.

John Swinney: Work has begun on the development of a national food policy for Scotland that will reflect the Scottish Government’s strategic objectives. Food procurement in the public sector will be an integral part of that policy. Guidelines on the supply of food within public services are being revised and will be issued in due course.

Rail Network

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the maximum capacity is of the Forth Rail Bridge and how close current usage by (a) all trains, (b) passenger trains and (c) freight trains is to such capacity.

Stewart Stevenson: The Forth Bridge is owned and maintained by Network Rail. The breakdown of traffic is, therefore, an operational matter between them and train operating companies.

  However, Network Rail’s Route Utilisation Strategy Baseline Report advises of the Forth Rail Crossing capacity utilisation as follows.

  The recommended practical capacity is nine train paths per hour although the theoretical capacity is 12 paths per hour. The current peak demand is 10 paths per hour.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what figures were used in calculating the present value of (a) benefits and (b) costs to determine the benefit to cost ratio for the Waverley railway line to Tweedbank, giving the respective values concerned, and whether these figures represent current assessments of benefits and costs.

Stewart Stevenson: The figures used in calculating the present value of (a) benefits and (b) costs to determine the benefit to cost ratio for the Waverley railway line to Tweedbank can be found in the Promoter’s Outline Business Case which can be accessed at the following website: http:/www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/committees/waverlyRB/docs/wr04-bc-00.htm .

  Transport Scotland is continuing a due-diligence review of the Borders railway as it prepares to take on the role of Authorised Undertaker for the railway, a role that it is assuming at the behest of the previous Administration. This exercise, amongst other things, shall assess whether the figures in the Promoter’s Outline Business Case represent current assessments of benefits and costs. Therefore, until this exercise is complete, it is not prudent to speculate on the current validity of the figures used to determine the benefit to cost ratio for the Waverley railway line to Tweedbank.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive by how much the funding package proposed by the Waverley Railway Partnership is insufficient to deliver the project and whether Scottish Borders Council and Midlothian Council, working with developers, are responsible for filling the funding gap.

Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland is continuing a due-diligence review of the Borders railway as it prepares to take on the role of Authorised Undertaker for the railway, a role that it is assuming at the behest of the previous administration.

  The Scottish Government’s commitment towards the Waverley railway line remains at £115 million in 2002 prices, adjusted for inflation.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide any additional resources beyond the total amount currently committed to meet the shortfall in the funding package for the Waverley railway line.

Stewart Stevenson: As announced in my statement to Parliament the Scottish Government’s commitment towards the Waverley railway line is £115 million in 2002 prices.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the assumptions underlying the business case for the Waverley railway line continue to hold, in light of disparities between housing projections in strategic planning documents submitted by Scottish Borders Council and housing growth projections included in the council’s business case for the Waverley line.

Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland is continuing a due-diligence review of the Borders railway as it prepares to take on the role of Authorised Undertaker for the railway, a role that it is assuming at the behest of the previous administration. Until this exercise is complete, it is not prudent to speculate on whether it considers that the assumptions underlying the business case for the Waverley railway line continue to hold, including the housing elements.

Rail Network

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a clear and comprehensive risk management strategy is in place for the Waverley railway line project and whether ministers, or a designated person, are responsible to the Parliament for ensuring that this condition of funding is met.

Stewart Stevenson: The promoter is actively addressing the ministerial funding condition of ensuring that a clear and comprehensive risk management strategy is in place, and has appointed a designated person responsible for ensuring that this condition of funding is being met.

Road Accidents

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-3516 by Stewart Stevenson on 6 September 2007, how many road traffic accidents have taken place on the A838 in each year since 1999.

Stewart Stevenson: Data about injury road accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Government using the Stats 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only road accidents in which one or more people were injured and which become known to the police. The returns do not cover damage-only accidents or accidents of which the police are unaware because they were not reported by the public.

  The following table gives the total number of reported injury road accidents which were identified in the Stats 19 returns as occurring on the A838 between 1999 and 2006.

  It should be noted that the statistics given are based upon the data which is held in the central statistical database and which were collected by the police at the time of the accident and subsequently reported to the Scottish Government. They may differ from any figures which the local authority would provide now, because they do not take account of any subsequent changes or corrections that local authorities may have made to the statistical information, for use at local level, about the location of each accident, based upon their knowledge of the roads and areas concerned.

  Reported Injury Road Accidents on the A838

  

Road
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006


A838
5
6
2
3
2
2
4
2

Road Accidents

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-3515 by Stewart Stevenson on 6 September 2007, how many road traffic accidents involving foreign motorists have taken place on the (a) A835, (b) A836, (c) A837, (d) A838, (e) A894, (f) A897 and (g) A9 north of the Dornoch Bridge Roundabout in each year since 1999.

Stewart Stevenson: Data about injury road accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Government using the Stats 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only road accidents in which one or more people were injured and which become known to the police. The returns do not cover damage only accidents or accidents of which the police are unaware because they were not reported by the public.

  The following table gives the total number of reported injury road accidents which were identified in the Stats 19 returns as occurring on the A835, A836, A837, A838, A894, A897 and A9 (North of the Dornoch Bridge Roundabout) between 1999 and 2006, and for which at least one motor vehicle driver or rider was coded as being resident outside the UK.

  The specification of the Stats 19 returns includes a code which the police can use to identify as non-UK residents any drivers or riders, of vehicles involved in reported accidents, whose homes are outwith the UK. However, this information is not available in all cases - for example, the police will have no knowledge of the areas of residence of "hit and run" drivers. The true number of foreign motorists involved in accidents will therefore be higher than would appear from the Stats 19 data, and the true number of accidents involving foreign motorists will therefore be higher than the figures given in the following table. In addition, it should be noted that several changes were made to the Stats 19 specification with effect from the start of 1999, including the introduction of the code which is used to identify drivers or riders who are non-UK residents. As some police forces’ returns for 1999 were affected by difficulties connected with the implementation of the new specification, the figures for 1999 could be lower than they should have been.

  It should be noted that the statistics given in the following table are based upon the data which is held in the central statistical database and which was collected by the police at the time of the accident and subsequently reported to the government. They may differ from any figures which the local authority would provide now, because they do not take account of any subsequent changes or corrections that local authorities may have made to the statistical information, for use at local level, about the location of each accident, based upon their knowledge of the roads and areas concerned.

  Reported injury road accidents on the A835, A836, A837, A838, A894, A897 and A9 (North of the Dornoch Bridge Roundabout) which involved motor vehicle drivers or riders who were coded in the Stats 19 returns as being non-UK residents are given in the following table.

  

Road
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006


A835
0
1
5
3
2
0
2
1


A836
0
0
2
1
0
0
1
1


A837
0
0
0
1
3
0
0
0


A838
0
3
0
0
0
0
1
0


A894
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1


A897
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0


A9 North of the Dornoch Bridge Roundabout
0
1
3
2
2
4
3
2

Road Accidents

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-3517 by Stewart Stevenson on 6 September 2007, for how many road traffic accidents on the (a) A835, (b) A836, (c) A837, (d) A838, (e) A894, (f) A897 and (g) A9 north of the Dornoch Bridge Roundabout foreign motorists have been deemed to be responsible in each year since 1999.

Stewart Stevenson: Data about injury road accidents is collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Government using the Stats 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only road accidents in which one or more people were injured and which become known to the police. The returns do not cover damage-only accidents or accidents of which the police are unaware because they were not reported by the public.

  Statistics about the factors which may have contributed to the occurrence of an accident are only available with effect from the start of 2005, when the Stats 19 specification was expanded to include such information. The following table therefore gives the total number of reported injury road accidents in 2005 and 2006, which were identified in the Stats 19 returns as occurring on the A835, A836, A838, A894 and A9 (North of the Dornoch Bridge Roundabout), and which involved motor vehicle drivers or riders who were coded in the Stats 19 returns as being non-UK residents. There were no such accidents reported as occurring on the A837 and the A897 in those years.

  It should be noted that the statistics given in the following table are based upon the data which is held in the central statistical database and which was collected by the police at the time of the accident and subsequently reported to the Scottish Government. They may differ from any figures which the local authority would provide now, because they do not take account of any subsequent changes or corrections that local authorities may have made to the statistical information, for use at local level, about the location of each accident, based upon their knowledge of the roads and areas concerned.

  The specification of the Stats 19 returns includes a code which the police can use to identify as non-UK residents any drivers or riders of vehicles involved in reported accidents, whose homes are outwith the UK. However, this information is not available in all cases - for example, the police will have no knowledge of the areas of residence of hit-and-run drivers. The true number of foreign motorists involved in accidents will therefore be higher than would appear from the Stats 19 data, and the true number of accidents involving foreign motorists will therefore be higher than the figures given in the following table.

  The contributory factors shown in the returns reflect the reporting officer’s opinion at the time of making the report, and are not necessarily the result of extensive investigation: subsequent enquiries could lead to a change in the opinion of the reporting officer. The factors are largely subjective, and depend upon the skill and experience of the reporting officer in reconstructing the events which led directly to the accident, based upon the information available at the time of making the report.

  In the case of many accidents, contributory factors are recorded for more than one of the parties involved in the accident. For example, in the reporting officer’s view, one driver may have been "travelling too fast for the conditions", another may have been "impaired by alcohol", and a pedestrian may have "failed to look properly" - if so, the Stats 19 returns will show contributory factors for three of the parties involved in the accident. In such a case, the returns do not identify one participant as responsible, since it appears more than one person’s actions (or lack of action) contributed to the occurrence of the accident. However, if contributory factors are recorded for only one participant, it would appear that the reporting officer’s view is that that particular person was responsible for the accident. The following table therefore distinguishes between:

  (a) accidents for which all the contributory factors were recorded for non-UK resident motorists, as they may be regarded as responsible for such accidents;

  (b) accidents for which some of the contributory factors were recorded for non-UK resident motorists, and other contributory factors were recorded for other participants (such as UK motorists, cyclists and pedestrians), as it appears that, in each such case, responsibility should be split between the non-UK motorist(s) and one or more of the other participants in the accident; and

  (c) accidents for which none of the contributory factors were recorded for non-UK resident motorists, as it appears that they were not responsible for such accidents.

  (contributory factors were recorded for all of the reported accidents involving non-UK resident motorists in 2005 and 2006.)

  More information about contributory factors is given in an article on pages 53 to 74 of Road Accidents Scotland 2005, copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41118).

  Reported injury road accidents in 2005 and 2006, which were identified in the Stats 19 returns as occurring on the A835, A836, A838, A894 and A9 (North of the Dornoch Bridge Roundabout), and which involved motor vehicle drivers or riders who were coded in the Stats 19 returns as being non-UK residents - by whether any of the Contributory Factors were recorded for the non-UK motorists.

  

Road
Year
All of the Contributory Factors Recorded were for Non-UK Motorists
Some of the Contributory Factors Recorded were for Non-UK Motorists
None of the Contributory Factors Recorded were for Non-UK Motorists
Total all such Accidents


A835
2005
1
0
1
2


 
2006
0
0
1
1


A836
2005
1
0
0
1


 
2006
0
1
0
1


A838
2005
1
0
0
1


 
2006
0
0
0
0


A894
2005
1
0
0
1


 
2006
1
0
0
1


A9 North of the Dornoch Bridge roundabout
2005
2
1
0
3


 
2006
2
0
0
2



  Note: No such accidents were reported as occurring on the A837 and the A897 in those years.

Road Accidents

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many road accidents there were on rural roads in Grampian between November 2006 and February 2007.

Stewart Stevenson: Data about injury road accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the Stats 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only road accidents in which one or more people were injured and which become known to the police. The returns do not cover damage only accidents or accidents of which the police are unaware because they were not reported by the public.

  The following table gives the number of reported injury road accidents which were identified in the Stats 19 returns as occurring on rural roads within the Grampian Police force area between November 2006 and February 2007. For the purpose of road accident statistics which are published by the Scottish Government, "non built-up roads" (i.e. roads with speed limits of over 40mph) represent rural roads.

  Reported Injury Road Accidents on Non-Built-Up Roads within the Grampian Police Force Area between November 2006 and February 2007

  

Month/Year
Accidents


November 2006
54


December 2006
51


January 2007 
49


February 2007 
44


Total
198

Road Safety

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which roads have been identified for potential dualling as a contribution to road safety.

Stewart Stevenson: Safety is an integral part of the assessment of all trunk road schemes. Transport Scotland is the national transport agency for the Scottish Government and has responsibility for the trunk road network. Details and timescales for our major and important planned road projects, including dualling schemes, can be found on the Transport Scotland website at: http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/defaultpage1221cde0.aspx?pageID=50 .

  Local roads are the responsibility of local authorities.

  Future investment beyond the current programme will emerge from the Strategic Transport Projects Review which is due to report in summer 2008.

Road Safety

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to improve road safety on the A96.

Stewart Stevenson: During 2006 a study was carried out to examine a range of potential alterations to improve road safety along the length of the A96 within the A96 Route Accident Reduction Plan (RARP). This study examined accident records within all communities on the A96, considering traffic speeds, levels and movements and also considering potential measures which may be implemented to improve effectiveness of traffic control and pedestrian facilities within urban areas, including Nairn.

  The RARP report was submitted in February 2007 to Transport Scotland by the Operating Company for the North East Unit, BEAR Scotland Ltd. Following consideration, approval has now been given for BEAR to progress a number of measures during the current financial year.

  Transport Scotland has operational responsibility for this matter and can be contacted for more information.

Road Safety

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many road safety blackspots it has identified.

Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government does not hold this information on a national basis.

  In relation to the trunk road network Transport Scotland undertake approximately 100 accident investigation and prevention schemes annually. These schemes can be either at accident cluster sites or as part of a route accident reduction plan.

  Transport Scotland has operational responsibility for this matter and can be contacted for more information.

Road Safety

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will support rural local authorities in ensuring that sufficient resources are available to maintain local roads during the winter months.

Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government supports local authorities’ net revenue expenditure on road maintenance and winter maintenance through the core local government finance settlement. All local authorities receive their needs-based share of the road maintenance and winter maintenance Grant Aided Expenditure allocations and it is up to each council to decide how best to allocate the resources available to it based on its local needs and priorities.

Roads

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to provide a road environment that caters for the needs of international visitors.

Stewart Stevenson: The Scottish Government is very aware of the need to ensure a safe environment for all road users, including international visitors. Roads are designed to national standards and these standards have been developed through research, which often includes information from international authorities. The majority of road signs are designed to similar standards to those adopted abroad and drivers are therefore presented with information that is readily understood. In addition, the opportunity is often taken to provide safety messages in a variety of languages.

  Transport Scotland has operational responsibility for this matter and can be contacted for more information.

Roads

Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are plans to bring forward the start date for work on the Raith interchange.

Stewart Stevenson: The timetable for the start of work on the Raith interchange is dependent on the satisfactory completion of the statutory procedures. The draft Road Orders were published on 23 March and the draft Compulsory Purchase Order is expected to be published later in the year. The current programme, as published on the Transport Scotland website, at www.transportscotland.gov.uk is based on the assumption that we will not require a Public Local Inquiry (PLI). A PLI would add 12 to 18 months to the programme.

Roads

Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any evidence exists that would preclude work beginning early on either the Raith interchange or the M8 upgrades.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-4033 on 20 September 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  The current programme for the M8 upgrade, as published on the Transport Scotland website at www.transportscotland.gov.uk, is subject to satisfactory completion of the statutory procedures. This programme is based on the assumption that we will require a Public Local Inquiry (PLI).

Schools

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Hunter Foundation and the City of Edinburgh Council about the 20:20 Vision programme, in light of the council’s proposal to close both Wester Hailes Education Centre and Castlebrae Community High School which are recipients of funding from the programme.

Maureen Watt: We have regular discussions with the City of Edinburgh Council and the Hunter Foundation about the on-going delivery of the 20:20 project in the city. We understand that the Council will not be pursuing the decision they took on 23 August 2007 to consult regarding whether to close these schools.

Scottish Government Expenditure

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has budgeted to spend on (a) publicity, (b) special advisers, (c) promotion of cabinet secretaries and ministers and (d) commissioning external consultants’ advice in the next financial year.

John Swinney: In respect of point (a), the term "publicity" has been interpreted to mean the Scottish Government’s central marketing communications work. The precise budget for 2008-09 will depend on the outcomes of the Strategic Spending Review . The estimated advertising budget for 2008-09, based on figures for 2007-08, is £10,243,650 (£8,718,000 plus VAT).

  In respect of point (b), a provisional budget for special advisers for 2008-09 has not been set. In respect of point (c), the Scottish Government does not have specific budgets for promoting individual Cabinet Secretaries or ministers. In respect of point (d), information on current or projected costs of commissioning external consultants’ advice is not held centrally.

Scottish Government Travel

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost has been of flights taken by (a) ministers and (b) officials on official business since May 2007.

John Swinney: The amount paid by the Scottish Executive between 1 May and 31 July 2007 for flights taken by ministers was £8,248.

  The amount paid by the Scottish Executive between 1 May and 31 July 2007 for flights by Scottish Executive officials on official business was £329,484. Some of this expenditure relates to flights taken outwith the period 1 May to 31 July 2007 where the flights were paid for in advance.

Scottish Qualifications Authority

Kenneth Gibson (Cunninghame North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review charges imposed on schools by the Scottish Qualifications Authority, in light of recent figures stating that exam presentation costs have increased substantially in recent years.

Maureen Watt: The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) is required to meet the full cost of exam delivery from charges. Every year the SQA prepares a draft budget and, as part of the budgeting process, reviews its charging levels. The SQA’s draft budget and its proposals for charge increases are then considered by ministers for approval. In each of the two most recent years, 2006-07 and 2007-08, SQA’s charges have increased by 3%.

Supermarkets

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making on encouraging supermarkets to reduce excess packaging.

Michael Russell: Where packaging is genuinely excessive, the supplier would be liable to enforcement action under the provisions of the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2003, which are reserved.

  The Scottish Government is working with the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to ensure further action by retailers to implement the Courtauld Commitment to reduce packaging and waste. In addition, we have set increasing recovery obligations in the producer responsibility regulations for packaging.

Teachers

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether every local authority will have used the additional funding announced on 20 June 2007 to employ an extra 300 teachers to secure the employment of probationary teachers by 19 September 2007 and, if not, which councils will have been unable to do so.

Maureen Watt: Funding has been provided to local authorities which will allow the employment of 300 additional teachers. The timing of the employment and the deployment of the extra teachers is a matter for each local authority.

  As at end August, we are aware there were local authority plans that would employ around 200 additional teachers resulting from the announcement of extra funding, while other local authorities had still to advertise posts.

  We will monitor the employment of the extra teachers through the National Priorities Action Fund.

Tourism

Ian McKee (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to support and invest in Edinburgh’s status and responsibilities as a capital city and one of Europe’s leading financial, academic and tourist centres.

John Swinney: The Scottish Government is committed to supporting and investing in Edinburgh and recognises its status and responsibilities as our capital city.

  Our overall purpose is to focus the government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland - including Edinburgh to flourish, through increased sustainable economic growth. Our Government Economic Strategy, to be published later in the autumn, will set out our principles and priorities for achieving this.

Traffic

John Park (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Transport Scotland expects traffic flow across the Forth Road Bridge to increase and what the projected figures are for the next five years, also broken down into (a) all traffic, (b) cars and (c) heavy goods vehicles.

Stewart Stevenson: Traffic has grown on the Forth Road Bridge ever since the bridge opened in 1964.

  As part of the Forth Replacement Crossing Study, the Transport Model for Scotland was used to compare the network conditions in 2005 with forecast conditions in 2012, 2017 and 2022.

  The annual average daily total in 2006 was around 66,000 vehicles. The projected equivalent figure for 2012 is around 72,800. Heavy goods vehicles currently make up around 6 per cent of the traffic flow. However, it is not possible to break this down into separate figures for heavy goods vehicles and cars in the future.

  Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area and can be contacted if required.

Traffic

Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are plans to introduce further measures to reduce congestion on the A725 Bellshill by-pass following the recent junction improvements at Strathclyde Business Park.

Stewart Stevenson: Work is currently on-going to signalise the junction of the A725 and North Road. It may be that these works will offer congestion relief benefits but these are not yet proven. There are no further plans for engineering measures to reduce congestion on the A725.

  Transport Scotland has operational responsibility for this matter and can be contacted for further information.

Traffic

Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any evidence has emerged on the level of improvement in traffic congestion at Strathclyde Business Park following recent junction improvements.

Stewart Stevenson: No study has been undertaken to assess the effect of the junction alterations at Strathclyde Business Park.

  Transport Scotland has operational responsibility for this matter and can be contacted for further information.

Traffic

Michael McMahon (Hamilton North and Bellshill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any information has been collected on the impact of increased traffic through Bellshill town centre during periods of diversion when work has been carried out on the A725 Bellshill by-pass.

Stewart Stevenson: Although all specific trunk road diversions are designed with the agreement of any adjacent local authority and the police, neither the Scottish Government nor Transport Scotland has information on traffic flows through Bellshill town centre. This is part of the local road network and would therefore be a matter for North Lanarkshire Council.

Transport

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what its plans are for the current Forth Road Bridge when a replacement crossing has been opened.

Stewart Stevenson: A range of options are potentially available for the existing Forth Road Bridge, including supplementing the multi-modal uses of the Forth Crossings. These are being looked at carefully in the context of the urgent need for a replacement crossing and ensuring both the timing and level of investment is prudently deployed.

  A short summary of potential options is included in Chapter 6 of Report 4 of the Forth Replacement Crossing Study.

Transport

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what options have been considered for the future of the current Forth Road Bridge when a replacement crossing has been opened and what the cost and environmental implications are of each option.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-3813 on 20 September 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area and can be contacted if required.

Transport

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it has taken on the value of the land associated with the current Forth Road Bridge, its approach roads and of the materials constituting the bridge and whether the value of these assets could be realised when a replacement crossing has been opened.

Stewart Stevenson: The Forth Road Bridge is a Grade A listed structure and is managed and maintained by FETA.

  Advice has not been sought on the value of the associated land, its approach roads or the material constituting the bridge.

  The future of the Forth Road Bridge will be decided once the on-going works and studies regarding the bridge cables has been completed.

Transport

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration has been given to the health and safety implications of the various options for the future of the current Forth Road Bridge when a replacement crossing has been opened and, in particular, whether any option might constitute a hazard to any shipping using the Forth.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-3813 on 20 September 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  No detailed assessment has been carried out at this stage on the health and safety implications for the future of the Forth Road Bridge.

  Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area and can be contacted if required.

Waste Management

Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will address the need for new strategic waste management facilities to serve the city of Glasgow.

Michael Russell: I am hosting a Waste Summit with local authorities and others on 3 October 2007 to discuss the way ahead for waste management across Scotland.

Water Safety

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what investigation the Scottish Environment Protection Agency has undertaken into an outbreak of sewage fungus in the River Polly; how many times this issue has been reported in the past, and what the cause is.

Michael Russell: As this is an operational matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, I have asked the Chief Executive to reply to your enquiry directly.

Water Safety

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints regarding water quality have been received in each year since 1990, broken down by local authority area.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Executive does not have a record of the number of complaints regarding water quality that it (or its predecessor) has received in each year since 1990. However, the Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland recently reported that Scottish Water reported a total of 25,299 complaints during 2006.

Weather

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Asset Database project will take into account changing weather patterns, including a rise in average temperature.

Michael Russell: The Scottish Flood Defence Asset Database is a register of fluvial and coastal defences constructed in Scotland under the Flood Prevention (Scotland) Act 1961, containing detailed records of the assets, the defended areas and number of properties protected. It was constructed to provide an assessment of the structural condition and performance of flood defence schemes and to establish the current standard of protection.

Wildlife

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the next meeting of Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime to be held; whether a minister will attend; whether it has sought the advice of this group on how to improve the investigation and prosecution of wildlife crime, and whether it will publish any such advice.

Michael Russell: The next meeting of the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime was scheduled for the 28 September 2007. However, I have asked for this to be changed to enable me to attend and chair. The principal topic for discussion will be how to improve the investigation and prosecution of wildlife crime. The minutes of the meetings are not routinely published but are available upon request, in line with Freedom of Information requirements.

Wildlife

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will establish a specialist task force of the members of Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime to consider and advise on the steps necessary to improve the investigation and prosecution of wildlife crime and, if so, by when it will ask such a task force to report.

Michael Russell: There are no plans to establish such a task force as the purpose of the partnership as a whole is to consider and advise on the investigation and prosecution of wildlife crime.

  I shall be chairing the next meeting of the partnership and will be leading a detailed discussion on future strategy.

Wildlife

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the chemicals used in cases of actual or attempted illegal wildlife poisonings in each of the last 10 years, also indicating for each chemical whether it has a lawful use and what regulations are in place to limit use to such lawful uses.

Michael Russell: The use, supply, storage and advertisement of pesticides is regulated by a number of pieces of legislation including the Control of Pesticides Regulations (COPR) and Plant Protection Products Regulations (PPPR). PPPR is the newer legislation and implements a European Directive (91/414/EEC) which regulates "Plant Protection Products", these include agricultural pesticides and growth regulators. The Pesticides Safety Directorate, an agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, is responsible for agricultural pesticides, most non-agricultural pesticides are the responsibility of Health and Safety Executive.

  The following table lists the chemicals identified in all investigated cases where illegal abuse has been confirmed in the last 10 years.

  

Chemical
Approved use
Expiry Date


Aldicarb
Full Approval
 


Bendiocarb
Not Approved
July 2003


Brodifacoum
Not Approved
December 2004


Bromadiolone
Not Approved
December 2004


Carbofuran
Not Approved
February 2000


Carbosulfan
Full Approval
 


Chloralose -alpha
Not Approved
July 2003


Diazinon
Not Approved
September 2000


Dichlorovos
Not Approved
April 2002


Difenacoum
Not Approved
December 2004


Gamma-HCH (Lindane)
Not Approved
June 2002


Isofenphos
Not Approved
Not been approved in the last 10 years


Malathion
Full Approval
 


Metaldehyde
Provisional Approval
 


Mevinphos
Not Approved
Not been approved in the last 10 years


Paraquat
Full Approval (professional use)
 


Phorate
Not Approved
June 2001


Strychnine
Not Approved
September 2006

Wildlife

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, for each chemical used in cases of actual or attempted illegal wildlife poisonings in the last 10 years, whether it will list the quantity recovered in the illegal bait and describe the impact on an average sized (a) pet dog, (b) human adult and (c) human child if one tenth of this quantity was (i) ingested and (ii) handled.

Michael Russell: Records are not kept about the quantities recovered in illegal baits. Small samples are taken for investigation, which then form the basis of the data held by the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme. The list of chemicals used in cases of illegal poisoning over the last 10 years can be found in the answer to question S3W-4143 on 20 September 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Wildlife

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive in how many cases single farm payments, or any other subsidy have been withdrawn or reduced as a result of the occurrence of wildlife crime on the relevant land or the involvement in wildlife crime of the potential recipient and whether it will list the names of those so penalised.

Michael Russell: To date one Single Farm Payment recipient has had their payment reduced as a result of wildlife crime. Three other cases are in the investigatory stage.

  None of the recipient’s details can be released as this is personal information which is exempt from publication under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.

Wildlife

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice or representations it has received from (a) the public, (b) interested organisations, (c) the police and (d) the Crown Office regarding problems with the prosecution of wildlife crime.

Michael Russell: Their have been a number of letters from the public expressing their dismay and outrage at the recent killing of a golden eagle in the Borders, and requesting firm action in pursuit of the perpetrator. There have been no representations from Police or the Crown Office and Procurators Fiscal Service regarding problems with the prosecutions of wildlife crime.

Wildlife

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11675 by Tavish Scott on 6 December 2004, when it expects the review of the Game Acts to be completed and when it will announce its proposals for reform.

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reform the Game Acts or otherwise better regulate the game shooting industry.

Michael Russell: Scottish ministers are aware that the Game Acts would benefit from review. The timing of any such review is being considered alongside other priorities.

Wildlife

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what scientific research has been carried out in the last 10 years to investigate the effect that illegal killing, including poisoning, may be having on the golden eagle population in Scotland and what the conclusions of such research were.

Michael Russell: SNH have been carrying out research into the conservation status of golden eagles in Scotland. Their report, A conservation framework for the golden eagle: implications for conservation and management in Scotland , is due to be published shortly.

  The conclusion of this assessment is that persecution is one of the main constraints on the Scottish golden eagle population.